5 things learned from Georgia Tech’s rout of Virginia

1. A rare win in C’ville

Winning at Scott Stadium is a rare occurrence for the Jackets. Only four times previously had Tech left Virginia’s home turf with a win before Saturday’s result.

The victory was extra sweet for Tech coach Brent Key who went 0-for-2 as a Yellow Jacket player in games played at UVA, 0-for-1 as a Tech graduate assistant and 0-for-2 as a Tech assistant coach.

“Really good win to come up here to Charlottesville, a place that historically has been a tough place for us to play,” Key said. “My first career win here so I thought that was pretty cool, too. A lot of years of trying. A lot of years.”

Tech’s 45 points was the most it had ever scored at Virginia and its 28-point win was its largest margin of victory at UVA. The crowd of 42,606 rarely factored in what became an easy rout for the Jackets.

“Mainly just bring your own energy,” Tech quarterback Haynes King said about overcoming history. “If you create your own energy, especially on away games, you have energy from within. You’re not worried about all the other stuff outside of who we are, outside of this program, it wouldn’t bother you. It was a big emphasis coming into today on creating your own energy, getting everybody up, just creating your own energy and keeping the energy.”

The victory was also an added birthday present for Fitz Batt, the son of Tech athletics director and Charlottesville native J Batt, who turned nine Saturday and was present for the Yellow Jackets’ win.

2. Tight end touches

Tech utilized its tight ends early and often Saturday.

Dylan Leonard, Luke Benson and Brett Seither combined for five receptions with Leonard pulling in three of those. The three receptions for Leonard were a season high.

Benson hadn’t caught a pass since Oct. 7 at Miami.

Tech’s tight end trio were part of a day that saw 10 different players catch a pass from King. Leonard, Benson and Seither combined for 30 of 209 receiving yards.

3. Takeaways lead to wins

The Jackets intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble Saturday, the fourth time this season the team’s defense has forced at least two turnovers in a game. Tech is now 4-0 in those contests.

Interceptions by Jaylon King and Myles Sims and a fumble recovery by Kenan Johnson ran Tech’s takeaway total to 18 this season and to 42 in the last 21 games. Tech had five takeaways in a win at Wake Forest and five in a win at Miami.

The Yellow Jackets have a total of two takeaways in its four defeats this season.

4. Shoutout to the O-line

With 305 yards rushing Saturday, Tech registered its second straight game of 300 rushing yards for the first time since 2018 when it did so in back-to-back games against Virginia Tech and North Carolina, respectively.

Much of the praise after Saturday’s win went toward Tech’s offensive line.

“They’re gritty. Hard work pays off. They’re gritty,” Haynes King said. “More games, more experience, the more camaraderie it’s gonna be. Getting on the same page, communication. All of it, it’s just starting to fall in place. How gritty they are is just outstanding.”

Added running back Jamal Haynes: “Big shoutout to the O-line. We’ve been harping on the O-line to actually have that grit.”

Tech rushed for 348 yards and averaged 7.3 yards per carry in a win over North Carolina on Oct. 28. The Jackets averaged 6.9 per run Saturday with Haynes totaling 119, King going for 83 and Dontae Smith racking up 78.

The Jackets are averaging 7.1 yards per carry in the last two games, music to the former offensive lineman Key’s ears.

“I’m happy for those guys up front that are playing together. We knew coming into this game there were going to be some -1, -2 runs. We knew there were going to be some zero and 1-yard gains. We had to stay with it,” Key said. “With the running game comes the perimeter game, the perimeter screens, the passing game, some of the shot plays. All in all, it opens up everything and I think it allows the quarterback to sit back and really do what he does best and that’s be the coach on the field, manage the game and put the ball where it needs to be and run the offense.”

4. Nod to PJ

Former Tech coach Paul Johnson was honored on the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium during the Jackets win over North Carolina. Key honored him in a different way Saturday during the victory at Virginia.

“When you’re able to put the ball in so many different people’s hands, whether they’re spread out and you’re having to guard them on the defensive side, there’s a lot of option elements built into the offense that aren’t necessarily under center, veer, dive option,” he said. “But shoutout to coach Johnson and the things he was able to do here for so long. To be able to borrow a page from his book, just doing it a little bit different way.”

Tech gave the ball to five different backs against Virginia and 10 different receivers catch a pass.

5. Offensive prowess

Tech’s offense has been a force to be reckoned with nearly every game this season. That unit continued its impressive play Saturday by putting up 45 points, 514 yards, 29 first downs and six touchdowns.

Tech scored at least 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time since scoring 63 against Bowling Green and 66 against Louisville, respectively, early in the 2018 season. Saturday’s output was also the third time this season the Jackets have scored 40 points and fifth time they have put up at least 30.

Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has a unit that has now totaled 299 points this season. With three regular-season games remaining, Tech could be well on its way to eclipsing 400 points for the first time since 2018 (437).

Tech now has 4,188 yards of offense for the year bringing its season average up to 465.3 yards per game. That would be the program’s highest average since 2014 (476.5).

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